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Zuko
Fire Lord, Friend, Soon to be Father. A Royal History Zuko’s actually a little more of a jerk but apparently being spoiled does that to you. Always having people around to wash the sheets and wax the floors tends to have its uses after spending long days sitting at a desk stamping documents. Generally what the Fire Lord finds himself doing these days is nothing short of simply signing and sending parchment off on the same old route to better the country and whatever else needs to be given a quick look-over. Really, it’s no wonder the crab-monster’s suddenly around stealing muffins from the kitchen and spending a little more free time around the turtleduck pond. It’s a fairly boring existence. Sitting in solitude was more or less the most commonly sought out past time during those first few years. Sweeping more insignificant issues under the rug and weeding out the last of Ozai’s council proved to be a lot more tedious for the young Fire Lord as opposed to actually making some sort of appearance somewhere. Perhaps this was due to the lack of favor on his behalf within political hierarchy—he was just a boy. Still kind of is, really. Recently things are more in a rut. On top of spending years trying to reform the entirety of the country’s tyrannical mindset, there’d been a few personal endeavors getting in the way of things as much as he’d like to forget them. About five years after his coronation Zuko and Mai were engaged to be wed the following spring, and even that held its own complications with everything in between. The people are never quite sated and neither is the clergy or the royal senate… dissension in the ranks, a jailed ex-king, a crazed sister locked in the catacombs of the palace—these things set a distance between he and his fiancé and to think an engagement was going to make anything better was another thing he had to learn the hard way (it also sort of reaffirmed the fact that the hard way is the only way he ever learns things.) There were arguments of course, and nights where Zuko wouldn’t sleep and still doesn’t for a few reasons. Somewhere down the countdown to that wedding he’d endured a fairly cranky, pregnant fiancé who’d miscarried some five months in that gave everyone a whole new slew of things to rag on her about. Needless to say, every event leading up to the main event was only setting them up for failure in the end. Chastisement or even fun-poking from any of his friends wasn’t quite tolerated as lightheartedly as they’d want, and when the matters were approached on a more serious note he’d completely shut them out. When their wedding was only weeks away there’d been a noticeable distance set between he and Mai. An argument (surprise surprise!) led her all the way to Omashu to visit with cousins and had the Fire Lord traveling some ways to the south pole with friends to gather up more friends… Despite that he, himself, had never quite made it back to the Fire Nation on time, he’d managed to steal his mother back out of a cage of women from this crazy underground labyrinth of ‘Dragonsharks.” Fun as that sounds, with a little help from Katara, it really wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been—they’d only just barely escaped so… (He’d be lying if he didn’t say running around underneath the desert and traveling back to the FireNation on a shirshu and three yappy women didn’t take a lot out of him.) Upon their return there were a few reunions, a couple of parties (all of which Zuko pretty much got hammered at) but there was a bit of peace, too. Every so often he and Mai would take a trip to the rathound races in another province, but otherwise the both of them were rather busy with their own things—he his papers (it’s always the goddamn papers with him) and her with wedding things—dinners and the like. …And yet as time went on, people started to get a lot antsier and a lot more annoying than usual. The party and guests alike were moved over to Ember Island during their lights festival after Azula had escaped the dungeons and took off. With both Na and Hideaki missing as well, Zuko would spend his time sending reports and notices—rewards to whoever turned them in as well as hiring a more elite guard before his own departure. Given that he wasn’t quite as diligent a host as he should’ve been, accommodating the lot of his guests for the festival may have at least cushioned the blow of yet another postponement in wedding plans (the first couple times around are stories better left for later, after all.) At least it was time to spend catching up with old friends without the bother of paperwork. With Mai here ‘n there and everywhere, Zuko freed up his time to go and spend a day with Sokka, chastise Touda, make a fancy speech on that opening night and just… be a guest, as it were. Partaking in the lot of those festivities may not have been on the list but it was nice enough to get away from the stresses of the palace life—let the architects do their job and hopefully return within that week’s time for the wedding to resume. It really wasn’t until those last two nights on Ember Island fell to pieces with just a bit more than lantern light and wine making reality just all the more surreal. But reality is reality and once morning hit, everything hit. Turns out that by the end of the day there was no wedding anymore, but rather a funeral for a late father out of jail. The minute his mother came in with that parchment in hand (looking like death, no less) Zuko knew for certain there couldn’t have been a worse day… even if the evening itself was segregated in its own little corner of contentment, that only put the wedding in its grave soon after. So… with no wedding, no fiancé, no friends, no allies, and not a peep from anyone but his adviser who’d picked a nerve when everything else had crumbled, the Fire Lord threw together a funeral and set a course for Ba Sing Se at Kuei’s beck and call where, despite the stuffy air around that palace was more of a reprieve than he could hope to grasp at his own. To be Continued... later. When it's written BD Bending The end of the war’s been harsh on a few skills—left them diminished at the fate of a desk and a stack of papers. Zuko is fairly out of practice in his bending capabilities and doesn’t quite use it as often as he once had. While sparring with Sifu Touda may frequent the weekend schedule every few weeks, it’s hardly something he can boast about anymore given this time of peace. Family Direct Relations Father - Lord Ozai Dead Mother - Lady Ursa Sibling - Princess Azula Escaped Paternal Bloodlines Grandfather - Fire Lord Azulon D Grandmother - Lady Ilah D Uncles - Prince Iroh Aunts - N/A D Cousins - Lu Ten D Other- Lady Zohar, 5th Cousin Maternal Bloodlines Grandfather - N/A D Grandmother - N/A D Uncles - N/A Aunts - N/A Cousins - N/A Other - N/A Friends Touda Despite the arguments, clever euphemisms and telltale fingerprints smudging on every personal nook and cranny, these two are pretty good friends. Having known each other even before Zuko even knew Azula, they’d had just about every up and down two guy friends could ever possibly have. From cookie snatching to being chastised in the art rooms during primary schooling, Sifu Touda and the Fire Lord had only ever parted ways when the war eventually caught up with them, sending Mr. Muttonchop to the front lines and the then-prince on an impossible mission to capture the Avatar. It was only when that part of their lives had ended did they finally grow into their proper roles set side by side that same old traditional way of all things Fire Nation. Zuko would take the crown, and Touda would take the tutoring position of the crown. And the rest is history. Cyan Cyan was definitely a face Zuko never would have thought to see again—a face long lost in a sea of faces left under tyranny of the Fire Nation when Azula took Ba Sing Se. The gap between then and their run-in on court grounds proved a less-than-ideal reunion. With all of the explanations given at the time, Cyan was merely learning that Zuko’s existence in Ba Sing Se was a giant lie. …However a couple cups of tea down the road, a chat with Uncle, and a few meetings were all that was needed to invite Ms. Karasa Cyan back into the Fire Lord’s life with privileges and kitchen-raids all rolled into one. Drinks on the healer-chick with the turtleduck affinity—it’s usually how the cookie crumbled. You might even call them friends, most days. Aang The past was rough with an impossible task, but in the years following the war’s end the Fire Lord and the Avatar had become good friends. In helping each other to restore balance to the both the Fire Nation and the rest of the world, the two of them had built a greater respect for one another in their efforts to regain peace and balance. Over that last span of six years they had been in each other’s good graces; it was only recently that their friendship had taken a turn for the worst. A cancelled wedding and a missing Avatar are only two pieces to the scrambled puzzle they’d put themselves in, with pieces missing in the aftermath of a few bad decisions made on Ember Island. A girl, of all things, is what tossed the both of them into that downward spiral... Though by now both Aang and Zuko are on well-enough terms, there’s still this dreaded awkwardness between them in the same room. Deep down it’s best for them to accept what’s happened and move on, but that block in the road put out in front of them is making that seemingly more impossible than it already feels. Sokka With Sokka things are usually simple, albeit a bit frustrating when the man’s “wit” is more of a folly than anything. It was something the Fire Lord had forgotten in those last six years spent with only letters between them, but he couldn’t fault him for it, really. It wasn’t until the big reunion in the Fire Nation did the two of them finally get a chance to reconnect (even if it was through food—frankly Zuko hadn’t given half a crap about how many fireflakes Sokka could stuff in his face under a certain amount of time.) For the most part they’ve been on good terms, despite the news of that rambunctious little tryst with his sister on Ember Island, Zuko would like to hope (funny, right?) that Sokka won’t want to hit him as hard as he can the next time they come face to face. Katara It was only in getting over the initial feeling of a being a total, complete stranger that brought Katara back into a friendlier light. As an ally in everything, Zuko’s found her to be some of the best company around. Despite the turnout of their own little endeavors being less than ideal—and there were plenty—the pros could definitely outweigh the cons with this one… …Even though technically he could blame the entirety of his problems on her. What with the cancelled wedding, the bad funeral, the stress, the baby, the little gray hair he found that one time… Clearly the girl’s a lot more trouble than she looks. Fortunately, none of that could possibly stand as a plausible argument against the facts and realities of their very bipolar (very sweet) relationship. At this point it couldn’t matter less that she’d be infuriatingly stubborn sometimes, or they’d argue, or that things were going to just get weirder and weirder while she spent those next few months cookin’ up his little monster in there… Because Zuko’s in love with her—or he’s only just begun to realize, anyway. All that’s left for him to do is to muster up enough courage to actually say it… …Somehow, he thinks she knows. Category:Royalty Category:Canon Characters Category:Fire Nation Category:The Dawn Category:infoboxes